The new report on pain management, mandated by Congress, is an important milestone for people with pain. The report emphasizes the need for access to affordable, multidisciplinary care, and urges an individualized approach to pain management–instead of broad one-size-fits-all limits and policies.

But how do we move it forward from a piece of paper to actual change?

Action is essential

Getting Congress to pay attention is vital. To do that, we need you to flood your legislators with emails and calls. It’s especially important we reach out to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee.

The new report on pain management, mandated by Congress, has the potential to improve pain care for millions of Americans. But how do we move it forward from a piece of paper to actual change?

To learn how you can help, please join us this Wednesday, May 22, at 12 pm EST for a special webinar with Cindy Steinberg, U.S. Pain’s National Director of Policy and Advocacy, and the only patient and patient advocate on the task force that created the report.

Today, the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force–a high-ranking group convened by Congress and overseen by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)–held the first part of its last public meeting to finalize a report on improving pain care in America. The task force, comprised of 29 members, includes Cindy Steinberg, U.S. Pain’s National Director of Policy and Advocacy, the only patient and patient advocacy representative.

An incredible 6,000 groups and individuals stepped up to give feedback on the draft report from the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force during the comment period that ended April 1. Among the groups was a coalition of pain-patient related organizations, including U.S. Pain Foundation, which submitted a united letter outlining their feedback.

On May 9 and 10, the task force will hold its last public meeting to vote on the final version of the report and discuss plans to disseminate it. The meeting will run from 10 am to 5:30 pm EST Thursday and from 9 am to 12 pm EST on Friday in Washington, D.C.

The 90-day public comment period for the Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force’s (PMTF) draft report came to a close April 1, with more than 6,000 individuals and organizations submitting feedback.

Among those to comment was the Consumer Pain Advocacy Task Force (CPATF), a coalition of pain patient-related nonprofits, including U.S. Pain Foundation, which submitted a 25-page joint letter. In addition to U.S. Pain Foundation, the CPATF letter was signed by the Center for Practical Bioethics; CHAMP (Coalition For Headache And Migraine Patients); Chronic Pain Research Alliance; For Grace: Women In Pain; Global Healthy Living Foundation; Headache and Migraine Policy Forum; International Pain Foundation; Interstitial Cystitis Association; RSDSA (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association); and The Pain Community.

In late December, a high-ranking federal task force released a draft report with recommendations for improving the management of chronic and acute pain nationwide. The landmark report will be finalized and submitted to Congress at the end of May. The pain community is being asked to give feedback on the report by April 1–less than a month away.

“It is vital that people with pain weigh in,” says Cindy Steinberg, National Director of Policy and Advocacy, who was the only patient and patient advocacy representative on the task force. “This report could change people with pain’s lives for the better. It promotes a multidisciplinary, multimodal approach to pain care and addresses barriers to accessing effective treatment. It says that treatment decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis that considers the unique situation of each patient. It addresses the stigma around chronic pain and lack of public, provider and patient education on pain management. It provides a comprehensive view of the gaps in pain care in the United States today and detailed recommendations on how to ameliorate them.”

On Feb. 12, for the first time in years, Congress held a hearing on chronic pain. We were proud to have Cindy Steinberg, National Director of Policy and Advocacy, as one of the four selected witnesses who gave testimony. As a reminder, you can watch a recording of the hearing here.

Hearing makes headlines

The hearing–and Steinberg’s remarks in particular–received a multitude of coverage at the national and local level. Here are some of those articles.

Even though the draft report from thePain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force is vitally important, it’s understandable that people with pain may not have the time or energy for reading a 91-page report. With that in mind, we have pulled together some excerpts from the report to help the pain community understand its key tenets.

To read the full report or learn more about how to submit comment, click here.

A high-ranking federal task force has released its much-anticipated draft report with recommendations for improving the management of chronic and acute pain. The public is being asked to provide feedback on the report by April 1.

On Jan. 16, Cindy Steinberg, National Director of Policy and Advocacy for U.S. Pain Foundation and the only patient and patient advocacy representative on the task force, presented a webinar on the report, why it matters and how to weigh in.

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